Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/201540
28 w e s t w o r l d p24-31_Jamaica.indd 28 >> "Even though he was very exhausted at the end of the day, Mr. Tharpe would try to shake the hands of as many slaves as he could. That's why the great house was spared during the slave rebellion," Hawthorne says as we explore the airy rooms of the manor, stopping to observe the two-metre-long, lead-coated, wood-fired bathtub where Tharpe soaked to soothe his arthritis. "He may have been the first person in Jamaica to have hot and cold running water." The following day, Sterling and I drive serpentine country roads to the former Hampden and Long Pond sugar estates, which date back to the mid-1700s and are now owned by Everglades Farms. The air is ripe with fermentation. Not far away is another vestige of Jamaica's colonial past: 567-hectare Braco Estate. On the way there, we drive through the sleepy hamlet of Duncans, home to a severe-looking stone Methodist church dating to 1882. Goats graze in the shade of the belfry. Jamaica has many claims to fame, among them reggae music, (both pages) Jeff Topham incongruent with its history but indicative of the current owner's spiritual leanings and the building's modern repurposing as a venue for artist and yoga retreats, as well as other private functions. As oxymoronic as it sounds, one of the original plantation owners, John Tharpe, was a slave trader with a heart. He earned a reputation for kindness and compassion in an era that for people of colour didn't have much of either. At its peak, 3,000 slaves toiled at Good Hope. Tharpe built a 300-bed hospital for their care. winter 2013 13-10-18 10:18 AM